SOME INTERESTING SIGNS AND FLOWERS

When we got back to Canberra one of the places we went was the Botanical Gardens. It was reallly beautiful.  The following are a few of the local flowers, however, I don't remember now where I actually took them.

I had been very anxious before going to Australia, knowing how many deadly poisonous snakes and spiders there were and how they were bound to get me!  Well, we didn't see a single one.  However, we did see the signs that we might have seen them.

This sign was in the Canberra Botanical gardens, I had my eyes open for the snakes and flowers!

Signs are written on the road in Canberra, but backwards in a way

This actually was in New Zealand

There was an area in Sydney that had been public housing but was very close to downtown Sydney and was being bought out and gentrified.  I thought this was a very innovative way to get the message across.

GREAT OCEAN ROAD

On to our next adventure, the Great Ocean Road. There are no words to describe how stunning it was.  The road was very twisty and turney but each turn bought another breath taking view.  We stopped briefly in Torquay to see all the surfing clothing shops.  We walked on Bell's beach where surfing began. On to Appollo beach where again, we had a lovely big appartment overlooking the beach.

Our first trip was to Mait's rest to see the ferns

We walked through the rain forest with lovely fern trees and huge gum trees

Then we drove to Cape Otway where there were a certain type of Gum tree that the wild Koala's like to eat.  We saw lots of wild Koalas. Really neat.

We stopped at Gibson's Steps where we walked down a lot of steps cut into the side of the rocks to get down to the beach. We went to see the 12 Apostles with a million tourists and decided to go back at sunset.  We went to Loch Ard Gorge where the Pirate Movie had been filmed years ago.  Lots of neat geological formations.

What a stunning place, particularly at sunset

I took a ton of photos!

The next day we spent quite a bit of time on our beach - again right in front of the appartment.  At one side of the beach were these amazing rocks with very interesting formations.  We spent hours looking in the rock pools and collecting shells.  At the end of the rocks were some crazy guys surfing.  It looked really dangerous to us that they were so close to the rocks, but they had a great time, it was really lovely to see them carve their way through the waves.

Next day we went to the market in Appollo Bay to pick up some cider and fresh produce. More beach time before our trip back tomorrow.  The next day we packed up and raced along the road to catch the ferry.  Did  I mention how twisty and turny it was? One of the kids lost their breakfast all over me! then the next kid saw what was going on and sympathetically joined in.  Car stopped - clean up ensued - I stood in my underclothes searching my case for clean stuff to put on.  After purchasing some air spray in the next town, we were on our way again.  We still managed to catch the ferry!

On the other side of the ferry was the Mornington Peninsular, which was very rural with wineries and great food.  Outside one of the places we stopped was this beautiful yarn bombing going on.  Looks like spider webs.  We spent the night with my old room mate from 40 years or more ago from Montreal.  It was wonderful to see her and she treated us royally, taking the kids to feed the chickens and calves.  They had a great time playing on bikes with her niece.  We got a chance to catch up on all the intervening years while the kids went to the Penguin parade on Phillip Island nearby.  It was so nice to see her, just the same old Beth, a little older and greyer, but really, just the same.  It was sad to say goodbye, not knowing when we will see each other again.

MELBOURNE

Melbourne is an amazing city - a real art lovers delight.  It was sad to have such a little time there, basically just one day.  I will just have to go back there again one day.!

These were strategically placed in a public square. At the time, a ballet group was performing

The architecture was stunning

As was the Graffitti

Some fibre art tucked in amongst the graffitti

The Australians certainly have a sense of humour.  This was in the window of a particularly busy coffee shop tucked away in a back alley. Great coffee!

The next morning we stopped for a walk along the St. Kilda pier and tucked away in the rocks were these really small penguins.  We will be for ever grateful to the kind lady who showed us where to look.  There were quite a few tourists looking in vain, but she found a quiet moment to make sure the kids were able to see some. 

We had tried to see this sculpture garden when we arrived in Melbourne but there was a gale and a tree had fallen on the winding road to get there and we had to turn around.  Fortunately we squeezed in just a short time to see it before we had to catch our plane out.  It really was worth the effort.

TAZZY 2

We really saw quite a lot of Tasmania. We spent some time at Port Arthur where one of the penal colonies had been.  Fascinating to learn of the convicts that were sent out to Australia.  It used to be that people hid if they were descended from convicts, but now it considered a badge of honour.

Lots of lovely views along the way

We had plenty of stops to refuel. A selection of Lamingtons, Caramel Slice and, Melting Moments

We stopped for a picnic lunch at Friendly Beach.  We had the entire, beautiful beach to ourselves.  It was amazing.  Luckily there were two strategically placed rocks for the kids and grandpa's entertainment.

We hiked up to the look out over Wine Glass Bay.  I really liked this strategically placed bench

One of many interesting seed pods we saw

Another interesting kids playground.  We saw a couple like this - they were like gym equipment but they were all made in such a way that you had to propel them yourself, even the treadmill was made of rollers

TASMANIA

While we were there it was school break time so we all went on a road trip.  First we flew to Tazzy (no one seems to ever call it Tasmania). The kids hired a mini van which fit all six of us quite comfortably. The parents were in the front, driver and navigator.  Then each grandparent had one child to entertain with changes each stop so everyone got their share of Grandpa (he is the story teller)

                                       

First stop was the Salamanca Market to pick up some fruit and vegetables and some amazing local cheeses. Next stop was for some fish and chips before starting on our trip to the MONA (Museum of Old and New Art)

The way to get to the museum was by the Camo boat. It was about a half hour trip and they had a bar and food on board.

The kids enjoyed the sheep seats at the front of the boat where you were outside and could see the world passing by.  The museum itself was really innovative and interesting.  I took quite a few photos but I wont show them here.  Most places didn't have problems with you taking photos but they were for your own use and putting them on a blog doesn't seem right.  You can go to the museum's website to check it out.  At the time I thought it was pretty dark with a lot of very sexual art.  The big hit with the kids was the Poop Machine they called it.  It was a series of large glass containers hanging from the ceiling.  There were specific feeding times and poop times.  Fortunately we were there for a feeding time, though the rooms smelt to high heaven!  They literally put a sandwhich in the first container and it worked its way over the next 12 hours to come out the other end as poop.  Although at the time I wasn't sure of a lot of the art, it has actually really stuck with me.  I particularly liked a curtain of water falling from the ceiling that was programmed to spell words in water.  The other one I liked was a big rusty cement truck outside that was intricately carved to look like lace.

My daughter did a fantastic job of planning the trip for us all.  We stayed in this beautiful cottage right on the beach.  You literally stepped out the door, down a couple of steps, through the gate and there was the beach.  We did a lot of travelling but still had time in the early mornings to enjoy the beach and look for treasures and build sandcastles.  A great way for the grandkids to get their sillies out before the sightseeing.

High on the list of must sees for my grandson was the Tasmanian Devil.  They have a sanctuary which we visited and they did a good job of both conservation and education.

 

They also had a few kangaros and other animals that had lots of room to roam.  I loved seeing the Joey

peeking out from its pouch

CANBERRA

After three jam packed days in Sydney, filled with going to museums, Art Galleries and wandering around neat areas of the city like Paddington where they have small boutique after small boutique of local designers. Oh to be skinny - I would have had a field day.  Instead I had to content myself with going to Dinosaur and buying some really colourful earings and ring.

After all the flying, we decided to take the bus to Canberra to stay with the kids.  A good choice as it went from City to City with easy drop off points in the middle.  No security line ups or having to get out to the airports.  Very relaxing and a good way to see the countryside flying by without having to contend with driving on the other side of the road.

Floriade was going on while we were in Canberra so we spent quite a lot of time walking through the flower plantings.  

I liked the use of an old car 

These are fruit bats hanging in the trees

They had huge sculptural flowers hanging in the trees.  I gather they are lit at night and look even more spectacular.

A lot of our time was spent doing things with the kids, hiking around the local area, going to the museum etc. 

 I was particularly taken with the variety of really interesting play areas for the children.  No boring stuff here.  The area was both safe for the kids, fun but also aesthetically pleasing.

Kids were also taken care of in the coffee shops as well.  Did I mention Australia has the best coffee ever? Flat whites are my new favourite.  They really take their coffee seriously and no matter which small out of the way place we had coffee - we never had a bad one on our whole trip.  This is a "babychino" which was offered in every coffee shop for the kids. Different each time, but this one was in the museum and was not only artistic but came with a lovely marshmallow.  It was basically frothy milk. But it kept the kids busy so we were able to enjoy our own coffees.

These were some interesting sculptures in the museum garden.

We saw so many beautiful birds on our trip.  This is one of the Rosella's that were in my daughter's garden.  We saw them every morning.